Jennifer Lopez has shared a couple of behind-the-scenes videos on Youtube and Instagram, showing us exactly how she was able to master her incredible pole dancing scenes as Ramona in Hustlers.
Lopez worked tirelessly with the lead choreographer on the film, Johanna Sapakie, who actually brought her own personal stripper pole for Jen to practice on at home.
The clip she shared on Instagram was captioned: "Life begins at the end of your comfort zone... This was definitely one of the hardest things I’ve ever done physically. But it was all worth it in the end."
The progress the 50-year-old megastar makes throughout training is astonishing. While at the start, she really has to strain to keep hold of the pole, by the end of the first day she is already trying out inverted poses.
"It's rough on your body," she says. "It's real acrobatic."
Take a look at the trailer for Hustlers:According to Harper's Bazaar, Sapakie began working with Lopez two and a half months before she started filming. They trained about two to three times a week with hour-long sessions, depending on the actress' busy schedule. Incredibly, Lopez was in the middle of a world tour at the time and had plenty of other projects to contend with.
"That was the point of making sure she had a pole in any city she was in. And I would go to her wherever she was at, so that within for a crazy busy schedule, we would lock out a pole training," Sapakie said in an interview with the publication.
Watch Jennifer Lopez work the pole in this clip from the movie:The star-studded cast also includes former Disney starlet Keke Palmer, Riverdale's Lili Reinhart, and Cardi B. Plus the movie features appearances from Academy Award-winning actress Mercedes Ruehl, Julia Stiles from the Bourne franchise, Trace Lysette from Amazon's Transparent, Mette Towley and Madeline Brewer from The Handmaid’s Tale.
Hustlers in cinemas now.